News

Local business donates headstone to murder victim

Thanks to one local business, a six-month old homicide victim, Aiden Skylar Perez, now has a headstone to mark his grave in Hays County. The child's father, Richard Perez, was charged with the capital murder of his son in May and sentenced to life in prison. While working on the case, members of the Hays County Sheriff's Office found out that the child did not have a headstone for his grave. After Lt. Kevin Ficke, head of investigations at the Hays County Sheriff's Office, told personal friend, James Deatherage, of the situation, the local businessman donated a headstone to the memory of the child. Pictured are James Deatherage (left) and Jason Robles (right).

by Jessica Domel

(San Marcos) -- It was a birthday present that no child asks for and no parent dreams of buying. On what would have been his second birthday, a Hays County child received a very special gift from a Seguin business - a headstone for his grave.

Deatherage's Carter Memorials in Seguin delivered the headstone Tuesday to the grave of Aiden Skylar Perez who was allegedly killed Jan. 3, 2008 by his mother's boyfriend, Richard Perez.

It was during the investigation and prosecution of the boyfriend that members of the Hays County Sheriff's Office learned that the six-month-old Aiden Perez did not have a headstone to mark his grave.

Lt. Kevin Ficke, head of investigations at the Hays County Sheriff's Office, says that when his office learned that Perez's grave didn't have a proper marker, he knew he had to do something for the small homicide victim.

"During the course of the investigation and at the conclusion of the capital murder trial, the father of this child was found guilty," said Ficke. "I spoke with the detective who is Jeri Skrocki, who did an outstanding job along with the Hays County District Attorney's Office in prosecuting this case. Detective Skrocki informed me that this child, who was six months old at the time of his death, did not have a headstone. All he had was a small little metal plate, that in my opinion did not do justice for him. Having previously worked in Guadalupe County for a number of years under Sheriff Arnold Zwicke's guidance, I know that in the past, the sheriff's department, we have done that and the citizens of Guadalupe County came together for the lady that was off IH 10 that we found and got a headstone donated."

Ficke says that his former boss, Sheriff Zwicke put him into contact with James and Laurie Deatherage, who own Deatherage's Carter Memorials in Seguin.

"After I explained the situation to Mr. Deatherage, he was more than willing to donate the headstone for the small child. That was delivered today (Tuesday). Actually he went out there today with Hays County District Attorney Sherri Tibbe and Detective Skrocki, and they placed the headstone for the small child at his final resting place," said Ficke.

The placing of the headstone came at an ironic time, according to Ficke, who says that the stone was placed on Perez's grave on what would have been his second birthday.

"It was his birthday - June 30 is that small child's birthday so it was kind-of ironic in the fact that I picked it up or met with Mr. Deatherage this morning, I didn't key on it. It wasn't until Detective Skrocki came back in and asked me if I realized what today was. Then it snapped that today was that child's birthday," said Ficke.

Perez died in January of 2008 from a head injury. Detectives believe the baby may have been dropped on his head by Richard Perez.

In May, Richard Perez was found guilty of the murder of Aiden Perez and sentenced to life in prison.

Ficke says that the placing of a headstone on Aiden Perez's grave will help the family and sheriff's office gain closure.

"I've got two small children myself. That small child was only here for a short amount of time, but he was still important. He was important to the Hays County Sheriff's Office, important to Detective Skrocki and it's just the right thing to do. That's the bottom line. It's just the right thing to do," said Ficke.

The headstone has been placed on Aiden Perez's grave in the San Pedro Cemetery in San Marcos.

Let the eating begin; Eating contests featured during annual Freedom Fiesta

By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

(Seguin) -- People's appetites will be put to the test during this year's Freedom Fiesta. Both a pizza and jalapeno eating contest will set the stage for Saturday afternoon's entertainment during the annual Independence Day celebration hosted by the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce in downtown Seguin.

The pizza eating contest is among the newest contest slated for the event. The pizza is being provided by Papa Murphy's Take 'N' Bake Pizza and will feature a family size cheese pizza.

The first flight of pizza eating will be held at 12:30 p.m. Saturday for those ages 13-17. The second flight for those 18 and up will get underway at 3 p.m.

Freedom Fiesta Chair Rebecca Fricke says she doesn't expect any problem in recruiting contestants for this particular contest.

"We got an entry form. They can fill it out and we're basically only going to have seven people in each flight. So that means seven kids in the first flight and seven adults in the second flight. So if we get 15 entries, then we're just going to randomly draw for the seven contestants," said Fricke.
Chamber chairman Shawn Martinez says the key to the contest will be speed, and contestants may use any technique they wish to consume the pizza the fastest way possible.

"It's not necessarily quantity but it's speed all the way down to the crust, so whoever can eat a whole family size the fastest will be the winner," says Martinez.

Prizes in the pizza eating contest will include gift certificates to Papa Murphy's and will be awarded to first, second and third place winners.

Those seeking an even bigger challenge may just want to keep their stomachs empty until the Jalapeno Eating Contest. The four minute challenge will be held at 4 p.m. Saturday. Fricke says in this contest, it's all about quantity.

"Basically I think it's to see how many you can eat. We've had people eat one and we've had people eat 16 I think," said Fricke.

To participate, contestants must be at least 18 years of age. The winner of the contest will receive $200 cash.

Other contest slated for the two-day Freedom Fiesta contest include an arm-wrestling tournament and a washer-pitching tournament. Entry forms are available online at www.freedomfiesta.com. '

Kiddie parade to kick off annual patriotic spirit

Uncle Sam will again take the lead during this year's Fourth of July Kiddie Parade hosted by the Guadalupe County Republican Women. The group is raising funds to benefit the Blue Star Moms, an organization supporting military troops. The parade is free and gets underway at 5:30 p.m. Friday in Central Park during this year's Freedom Fiesta celebration.

By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

(Seguin) -- Get ready to wrap a red, white and blue ribbon around your hair or bike handles. The annual Fourth of July Kiddie Parade returns to Central Park during this year's Freedom Fiesta activities. The kiddie parade is a project of the Guadalupe County Republican Women's group. The effort raises money for Blue Star Moms. The non-profit organization was established by moms helps to support the many sons and daughters serving this country's armed forces. Such projects attributed to the group include sending care packages and postcards and providing veteran outreach and assistance to wounded soilders.

Group member Kelly Follis, says the kiddie parade not only supports Blue Star Moms but it also allows kids to be patriotic.

"We encourage all kids to come out and dress in their patriotic best. Sometimes they just march around and wave little flags, sometimes they are in strollers and their stroller is decorated. They follow Uncle Sam around Central Park. Don Richey is always gracious to dress up as Uncle Sam. The kids just ride their bikes, their wagons whatever (and) decorate them. At the end we give out three top prizes, which are just little fun gifts to take home to commemorate their winning," said Follis.

Since the Fourth of July holiday falls on a Saturday, Follis says the group thought it would be a great idea to move the kiddie parade to the evening instead of its morning time slot. She says the move will allow more families to participate and give more people a chance to be in the crowd.

"This year, since the Fourth of July is actually on a Saturday, we are doing our event on Friday evening at 5:30. You don't have to sign up ahead of time, just come. We'll have some patriotic music playing, and we'll have uncle Sam there. We'll start about 5:30, and we'll just march around the park a couple times and then at the end of that you can but cookies three for a dollar or a picture with uncle Sam, which is five dollars. And that money goes right to the soldiers. We don't keep any of the proceeds. We send it right to Blue Star Moms," said Follis.

The Fourth of July Kiddie Parade gets underway at 5:30 p.m. Friday in downtown Seguin.

Motorcyle returns as top prize during SYS fundraiser

Imagine yourself cruising around town on this bike. Seguin Youth Services will raffle off the motorcyle during this weekend's Freedom Fiesta celebration.

By Joshua Hughes

(Seguin) -- You could ride off into the sunset this Fourth of July weekend on a new Harley. Seguin Youth Services will again be raffling off a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle this weekend at Freedom Fiesta.

SYS's executive director, Sheryl Sachtleben, says each year a bike is raffled off during the two-day celebration hosted by the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce in downtown Seguin.

Sachtleben says dollars from each ticket sold will go directly into the program which provides year long mentoring and afterschool assistance for area youth.

"This is our sixth annual Harley-Davidson raffle. It benefits Seguin Youth Services. We raffle this bike off Saturday night at Freedom Fiesta. We'll pull the winning ticket at about 11 p.m. We don't sell more than 500 tickets, and we sell those at $20 each or seven chances for $100. What do is use this money to fund some of our summer programs because we really don't charge for our services to our kids and our families," says Sachtleben.

Sachtleben says the bike, which is currently on display in the lobby of First Commercial Bank, is even nicer than the bikes raffled off in previous years.

"It's an 883 Sportster. They've upgraded it this year, so it costs us an extra $1,000, but it's a beautiful bike," says Sachtleben.

Sachtleben says the motorcycle raffle is one of the group's top fundraisers. She says along with raising money, it provides an opportunity to shed light on the mission behind the SYS organization.

"We're mostly an after school program, and then we work a lot with the teachers at school to work with students who need a little extra help with tutoring or after school activities just to keep them busy. So we have mentoring programs, we have recreational programs (and) social programs. We camped last week. That was pretty awesome with the kids. So we get to do a lot of things with them that they might not get the opportunity to do," says Sachtleben.

Tickets are currently available at First Commercial Bank or at Seguin Youth Services, which is located on North Guadalupe Street.

If tickets are stilll available on Saturday, they will be sold up until the drawing at Freedom Fiesta.

Tickets available for Mayor's Luncheon

By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

(Seguin) -- Seguin Mayor Betty Ann Matthies is inviting you over for lunch this Fourth of July. Tickets are still on sale for this year's Mayor's Luncheon scheduled for Saturday at the Seguin-Guadalupe County Coliseum. Matthies says like the Biggest Small Town Fourth of July Parade, the catered meal is another important tradition for the city of Seguin.

"It really is a time for all the people in the community to come down and cool off in the cool coliseum, enjoy the music, have a good lunch and get to visit with all the people that are there. I especially enjoy it because there's so many people from out-of-town that are here and it gives me a chance to seem them. I think that every year I see more and more people that are enjoying it," said Matthies.

The catered lunch will be provided this year by Bill Miller Barbeque.

Live music will also provided this weekend by local band Two Way Street.

Matthies says the luncheon is just a great way to continue the festivities Saturday morning following the annual downtown parade.

"I really encourage people to come out. Sometimes someone will call and say 'Well do I have to be invited to the Mayor's Luncheon?' Everybody is invited to the Mayor's Luncheon just buy a ticket and come down and the join the party," said Matthies.

The Mayor's Luncheon will be held Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the coliseum.

Tickets are $6 each and can be purchased at Seguin City Hall or at the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce office.

Residents to test strength at Freedom Fiesta

By Cindy Aguirre-Herrera

(Seguin) -- Get ready to arm wrestle your way to a good time at this year's Freedom Fiesta. An arm wrestling contest is the newest competition scheduled at this year's Fourth of July celebration hosted by the Seguin Area Chamber of Commerce and the Northeastern Arm wrestling Association.

Freedom Fiesta chair, Rebecca Fricke, says contestants will be locking hands and resting their elbows at a chance at winning some great prizes. Since it is the chamber's first year offering the contest, it will be an open weight class meaning that everyone will be eligible to compete in 16 different weight classes.

"They come in and they have to weigh in because it’s divided up by weight classes. So between eight o' clock and noon they can weigh in. Then we divide them up into their proper weight classes that they go in and we have them compete against each other," said Fricke. "We probably are going to try to get some professional arm wrestlers down there as well, but it is open to the community and for amateurs."

Fricke says the chamber is excited about the contest and believes that it will evolve into Freedom Fiesta favorite.

"I think the community is definitely excited about trying something new," said Fricke.

Prizes will be awarded to first and second place winners. Awards include trophies and T-shirts. Gift certificates will also be provided to winners in the youth divisions. The tournament will get underway at 1 p.m. Cost is $10 per arm. Registration is a available on Saturday morning or online at www.freedomfiest.com.